If You Can't Stand The Heat
by boredfred93
Summary: Iron Man vs (Extremis) Pepper. Does NOT include a happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

**If You Can't Stand The Heat**

**Introduction**

**So here's the first chapter of my first fanfic ever. It's pretty much all just gonna be action for this particular story, and quick semi-spoiler here: this is not going to end with a cheesy happy ending. Let me know what you think, was it a good start? A bad start? I don't know, I want you guys to tell me. So here goes...**

**PROLOGUE**

Story is set AFTER Iron Man 3. Tony has retrieved the arc reactor and, instead of rebuilding 42 suits, built a single "super suit", resembling the classic Mark 3 in aesthetics, but loaded with a ton of fancy gimmicks from all the other suits. Pepper isn't happy about this rebuilt suit for obvious reasons, and it just so happens that she regained her Extremis powers. Flames will once again clash against metal, but which one will hold up longer? -input dramatic music-

Chapter 1

Pepper strode back and forth at the bus stop, located just across the street from the Stark Mansion. She wore a tightly-buttoned beige coat that clashed oddly with her black sweatpants and heels.

As she paced, she shot an occasional glance at the mansion across the street, expecting him to turn up any second, but not for a sappy romantic date. She had ended her relationship with Tony after learning of his plans to rebuild a new suit. Yes, right after he blew up his whole stash and promised that he was a "changed man".

_What a joke_, thought Pepper as she looked over again, wishing he would hurry up.

The cold night breeze ruffled Pepper's hair, but it didn't matter, her body heat from the Extremis virus kept her warm. _He's gotta be here soon_, Pepper told herself, fidgeting with her hands inside her coat pockets. Little did anyone know, her hands were glowing a bright orange, ready for action in case Tony caught her by surprise. A couple minutes later, what looked like a bright star came crashing down to the ground.

With a huff, Pepper turned to face her armored adversary. Iron Man landed in the middle of the road on one knee, causing the ground to rumble as he did so. The familiar helmet craned up to look forward, its LED-lighted eyes boring into Pepper's with a blank expression.

As the machine straightened up to a standing position, Pepper tore off her coat, revealing a black sports bra. She then stepped out of her heels while untying her hair, giving her the exact same appearance she had against the battle against Killian. Tony didn't move a single inch while reminiscing how Pepper saved his life in those exact clothes, the memory still as fresh as the brand-new armor covering his body. He threw the memories aside, this was no time for that. This was a fight to the death.


	2. Chapter 2

**If You Can't Stand The Heat**

**Awwwwright, here's chapter 2. Not much to say, but this is where the real fun begins!**

Chapter 2

Pepper raised her fists in a battle-ready stance as the orange glow transferred from her hands to her abdomen. And still, Iron Man didn't move an inch. Pepper dashed up to him at inhuman speed and threw a spinning kick at his cranium. Iron Man ducked with equal speed. _It must be the machine doing most of the work!_ thought Pepper as her next few kicks were evaded at extreme speed.

Iron Man grabbed Pepper's leg while in midkick and twisted it. Hard. Pepper yelped as her whole body reflexively twisted with her leg. Pepper backed away to build some distance while nursing her leg and trying to formulate a plan. _It's the suit that's doing all the work, _Pepper told herself. _I need to somehow stop that thing from giving Tony strength. _

Iron Man was quickly gaining on Pepper. As they collided, Pepper flipped Iron Man over her back, smashing him into the ground where he lay, sprawled on his back. After a short pause, Pepper grasped onto his neck and chest, and swung him toward the mansion and released. Iron Man was sent flying, bound to crash right through the front doors of his own mansion, before activating his thruster engines, steadying himself in midair.

Pepper, who saw this coming, was already leaping high into the air. Iron Man barely activated his thrusters when Pepper came smashing into him from above. The force of Pepper's landing sent them both soaring downwards, right through the roof of the Stark Mansion.

The once-happy couple fell through several floors of the mansion before landing with a deafening _thud_ in what used to be the Hall of Armors. Tony was on the bottom and got the worst of the fall. Pepper straightened up to a sitting position on top of Iron Man and charged the Extremis heat from her abdomen to her fists. After the heat settled into her knuckles, Pepper proceeded to punch Iron Man's face repeatedly.

_The arc reactor! _Pepper realized. That was the source of Tony's power, how could she have forgotten? Pepper slammed a flaming fist one last time onto the now severely dented and charred helmet, and averted her gaze to the glowing light in Iron Man's chest, ready to end her conflicts with Tony Stark.


	3. Chapter 3

**If You Can't Stand The Heat  
****Chapter 3**

**Alright, so here's chapter 3. I noticed that chapters 1 and 2 had awkward text layout. So in this chapter, I tried to get a more organized text layout. Also, I tried to lengthen this chapter a little, another issue I saw with the first 2 chapters. And, chapter 4 should conclude this story. Anyways, the action continues!**

Pepper's fist was outstretched just a couple feet from Tony's arc reactor, prepared to inflict the finishing blow. But, of course, it wasn't going to be _that_ easy. Several metallic joints at Iron Man's waist area clicked into an exposed formation, allowing one metal clamp from each hip to clip and trap each of Pepper's arms in place.

Pepper snarled, infuriated by her failed attempt that came so close to succeeding.

She glared at the arc reactor that rested inches from her face, yet unable to move her clamped arms to crush that stupid lightbulb, which was ultimately the largest factor that summed into her hate towards Tony.

Her anger, however, was sending wave after wave of heat to the surface of her skin, unnoticed by neither Iron Man or Pepper herself. The heat on Pepper's skin built up to such a high degree that the metal clamps containing her arms were beginning to smoke.

Realizing this, Pepper channeled as much heat as she could to her forearms and wrists, weakening the clamps further. By the time Iron Man noticed this, Pepper gave her arms a huge jerk and, with a loud _crack,_ the clamps gave way and broke off.

Iron Man struggled to fight off Pepper's newly-freed hands that battered the metal covering his arms, attempting to get a clear shot at his arc reactor. Iron Man activated his thrusters and, still trying to ward off Pepper's vicious blows, took flight through the the giant mansion, seeking a reprieve.

"COWARD!" Pepper bellowed at the top of lungs as Iron Man whizzed through a maze of rooms, making it impossible to track him with the naked eye.

Pepper set off at a jog, already knowing her way around the large mansion, having lived in it for a few months. It would take ages to find him, and even then, who knows what traps he could have rigged up by then?

The search went on for another 10 minutes, ending with Pepper kicking down yet another door. Huffing and sweating, she knocked over the door to find one of Tony's latest (and most advanced) turret guns in the middle of the room, its lighted-sensors came to life and its barrel swiveled in her direction as she entered the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**If You Can't Stand The Heat**

**Chapter 4**

**WARNING: Although this story is rated T, I would rate this particular chapter somewhere between T and M. Why? Because there's some minor sexual-ish stuff, but not really hardcore. So why rate it T when it has some potential M material? Because the other 3 chapters are T material, it's better for publicity, and isn't that extreme imo.**

**But yeah...so here's the last chapter of this story. Not much to say, but here you go for everyone who's been waiting (yes, both of you).**

A few charred iron rods fell at Pepper's feet as the turret exploded in a flurry of smoke and flames. The turret didn't even get to a chance to lock on to Pepper before it was impaled by her fire-fists instantly. As the flames from the ruined machine harmlessly embraced her body, Pepper whirled around, looking for a sign of her real enemy.

Without warning, she was grabbed from behind. Pepper was trapped between both of Iron Man's arms and no matter how hard she resisted, there was no escape. She even tried to melt the metal on Tony's arms, but it remained sturdy and smooth..._smooth?_ Tony's new suit was flawless, which was just what Pepper needed. Her skin, slick with sweat from chasing Iron Man down, allowed Pepper to slip away with the aid of Iron Man's smooth, relenting armor.

As Pepper gained distance from Iron Man, she spat a bright orange clump of flaming spit into his eye. Iron Man's eye flickered and smoked, eventually bursting in a spark of light. "Did you think that stupid science fair toy could even last one second against me?" taunted Pepper, addressing the melted ruins of Tony's latest turret.

She had struck a nerve.

Iron Man lifted both arms and fired his signature repulsor rays to force distance from Pepper, aiming for every part of her body, alternating between each hand. The repulsors pushed Pepper farther and farther and farther until she hit a wall. The repulsor rays didn't stop there, Tony kept them firing as a huge dust cloud emerged around Pepper.

The repulsor rays went on for several minutes, the dust cloud becoming gradually thicker, and still, Tony kept firing.

To Iron Man's great surprise, Pepper emerged from the dust cloud appearing completely unscathed and running toward him at full speed, with no pants on. Iron Man assumed the repulsors had ripped Pepper's pants off, before Pepper reached him at inhuman speed, jumped high into the air, and landed with her bare legs wrapped around Iron Man's head.

Iron Man's hands instinctively lifted to Pepper's backside, trying to pry her off, but the her legs were gripping his helmet far too tightly. Then Pepper did something very bold: her now naked midsection, which was pressing right against Iron Man's face, glowed the familiar burning orange, and _urinated_ right into Iron Man's face at point-blank.

The urine, charged with Extremis heat, instantly lit Iron Man's head on fire and increased his struggling tenfold. Pepper leaped off of him and backpedaled, retrieving her sweatpants and putting them back on while enjoying the results of her cleverness.

Iron Man's entire body was soon convulsing and large smoke clouds grew from every metallic joint, as the Extremis-filled urine had leaked everywhere. The metal marvel eventually collapsed, sparks still flying from its ruined circuits frequently.

_It's now or never_ Pepper told herself.

Pepper bounded towards the downed Iron Man and pinned him to the ground with one of her feet on his stomach to prevent escape. She then planted a hand on her hip and waggled the first finger on her other hand at Iron Man. "Should've paid a little more attention to your girl and not some stupid _distractions_" Pepper whispered.

Iron Man struggled to get Pepper's leg off of him, but her foot was too strong. Hopeless, Iron Man looked up and his radio-speakers, crackling slightly from the smoke, said "Pepper...please."

Pepper stared at the iron face, examining its eyes, one eye a dark slot, the other flickering feebly every now and then, and made up her mind. "Honestly Tony, when did you turn into such a coward?" She giggled. "First you reconstruct the suit and expect me to to deal with it, then you want to get rid of Extremis by fighting me, then you want to run away from the fight, and now you want me to forgive you for everything?" Iron Man didn't answer, but continued to try and pry Pepper's foot off his stomach, which was dangerously close to his arc reactor.

Pepper traced the circular shape of the arc reactor with her foot slowly, "It's over" she whispered, a fiery gleam in her eyes, and she charged her foot with Extremis heat before sinking it right through Iron Man's arc reactor, breaking through and smashing the rubble below.

The explosion wasn't too big, but it was very bright. As the light faded, Pepper looked down at the crushed metal and let out a huff. She shrugged her shoulders in relief and even planted both feet on the smoking iron core before doing a little victory dance.

Pepper exited the half-collapsed mansion, relief still coursing through her.


End file.
